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WYD-FRASSATI Jul-2-2008 (280 words) With photos. xxxi
Body of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati arrives in Sydney for WYD
By Dan McAloon
Catholic News Service
SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- The body of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati arrived in Sydney for World Youth Day 2008, marking the first time it has left Turin, Italy, since his 1925 death.
The charismatic Blessed Pier Giorgio is revered for his social activism, sports-loving way, sense of humor and generous spirit.
"Pier Giorgio loved sport, horse riding, mountain climbing and practical jokes," Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Fisher, World Youth Day coordinator, told parishioners at St. Benedict Church in Sydney, where the body, enclosed in a zinc-lined coffin, was received July 2.
Born into a wealthy and influential but unreligious family, Blessed Pier Giorgio joined the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in 1918 at age 17, committing his spare time to the sick and needy. A passionate social activist, he joined student organizations, opposed fascism and established a daily newspaper.
His charitable acts included donating the money he received for high school graduation to an elderly woman evicted from her apartment and supporting a sick widow's three children. In 1925 the young man was afflicted with an acute attack of polio, which doctors speculated he caught from the sick that he tended. He died within five days at the age of 24.
The body will remain at St. Benedict Church until July 10. Then it will be moved to St. Mary's Cathedral and become a focal point of the World Youth Day 2008 pilgrimage to the historic landmark.
An evening Mass at St. Benedict Church will mark Blessed Pier Giorgio's feast day, July 4; the Mass will be celebrated by Sydney Cardinal George Pell and Bishop Fisher.
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Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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